Google buys Waze but claims won’t change the company, beats Apple and Facebook in customer satisfaction survey

Mapping company Waze claims its service won’t change despite being bought by Google for $US1.3 billion, as its new parent company beat Apple in a customer satisfaction survey.

Waze chief executive Noam Bardin has announced his company’s service will remain the same despite the closure of a large $US1.3 billion takeover bid for the service.

“Nothing practical will change here at Waze. We will maintain our community, brand, service and organization – the community hierarchy, responsibilities and processes will remain the same,” Bardin states.

“The same Waze people will continue to collaborate with you, and we will continue to innovate our product and services, making them more social, functional and helpful for everyday drivers.”

Bardin also believes a takeover has many advantages for the company over choosing to opt for an IPO.

“Choosing the path of an IPO often shifts attention to bankers, lawyers and the happiness of Wall Street, and we decided we’d rather spend our time with you, the Waze community. Google is committed to help us achieve our common goal and provide us with the independence and resources we need to succeed.”

For its part, Google Maps vice president Brian McClendon has agreed to keep the service separate – but only “for now”.

“The Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now. We’re excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities,”

“We’ll also work closely with the vibrant Waze community, who are the DNA of this app, to ensure they have what’s needed to grow and prosper.”

Meanwhile, Google has beaten out rivals Apple and Facebook in the reputation stakes, with 83% of adults in the US holding a favourable view of the online and mobile services giant, with 10% holding an unfavourable view, according to a recent poll.

During Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this week, Apple had attempted to claim ‘higher customer usage’ for iOS than Android, despite Android having a smartphone marketshare of around 75% worldwide and 69.4% in Australia, partly on the grounds Apple had a customer satisfaction rating of 97%.

“People are using our products substantially more than anyone else’s,” Cook said.

Yet the Washington Post ABC News poll shows the company ahead of rivals Apple, with a 72% favourable rating, along with an unfavourable rating of 16% – a rating significantly worse than the Android maker.

However, both the tech giants came ahead of social media giant Facebook, which a favourable rating of just 60% compared to an unfavourable rating of 30%.

Compared to a similar conducted a year ago, Google’s and Facebook’s ratings has slightly increased, from 82% and 58%, while Apple’s has fallen slightly from 74%.

Apple’s biggest fall came from users under 30, where the iPhone maker has fallen from 81% trust to just 71%.